Interview with Hank Patterson

Phil Monahan over at Orvis had a sit down with the legendary Hank Patterson. This is something very few people have the opportunity to do. Head on over to the Orvis website to see the full write up on the interview.

Anticipation

Maybe it's just me but I find the time leading up to a fishing trip to be almost as good as the trip itself. There's just something about going through all of my gear; checking and rechecking the line for cracks, tying flies to fill the gaps in my fly box, counting my spare leaders and spools of tippet, looking for pinholes in my waders, and even checking the drag on my reel. Admittedly, I've always been a little bit of a gear weeny, but that isn't why I find the preparations so cathartic. It's the memories that are tied to everything. The feisty bass that defeated my drag and pulled me halfway into my backing. And the ding in my fly box from slipping on an algae covered slab of limestone, fumbling the box and then watching it bounce off a boulder below me and sink straight to the bottom of the stream. The memories quickly turn to daydreams. Daydreams of what the trip will be like, what I will catch, what I will see. The anticipation is absolutely exciting. But then again, maybe it's just me.

Weekend Prep

If you are anything like me you spend almost as much time preparing for a trip as you do fishing on said trip. All the fly tying, looking for holes in waders, checking the line for cracks, checking the drag on the reel, rechecking the line for cracks; you get the point. The hours add up. So take a break from your weekend prepping and enjoy these videos.


Scandinavian Sea Trouts from Whip Fly Fishing on Vimeo.






Mighty Mouse - Alaska Mouse Fishing from Fly Out Media on Vimeo.

GEOBASS: Botswana

Look what found it's way to my inbox this morning. This latest installment of GEOBASS finds the guys in Botswana and is probably the best episode to date.

Dreamin'

So the wife is out doing karaoke with some friends for the evening. Which means I have the TV to myself... Broke out the vise and put on some Netflix; Long Way Round to be exact. It has always been a dream of mine to get a dual sport and tour the world. Maybe with a fly rod. So who out there wants to grab a camera and document a bum on a bike with his fly rod?

Separated Sections

I've been tying a lot of flies lately, and with fly tying comes reminiscing. Personally, I can't help but lose myself in the experiences I have had while I am at the vise. One day, in particular, seams to stand out the most for me today. I was fishing a relatively quick stretch of river just below the damn where I live. It was a pretty warm day and I chose to where shorts and Chacos as the river bottom is mostly gravel and wading boots are just not necessary. The water felt cool on my legs as it flowed past. We had some rain recently and the water was a bit murky so I tied on a light-olive damsel with silver bead eyes and used a random pattern of stripping to retrieve it. Sunfish, Rio Grand Cichlids, and Small Mouth Bass were hitting almost every cast. I even had an occasional Guadalupe Bass. It was one of those afternoons that you get to stand in refreshing water and enjoy the aggressive nature of little fish. A small crowd formed on the river bank. OK... It was more like a family and their dog. Regardless, I had a small audience. The shadow of a pretty sizable Rio Grand caught my eye in the shallows of the far bank. I pulled my line up off the water into a backcast and proceeded to make a few false casts paying out line with every forward stroke. Soon, I was ready to launch. The line flew past me on my final back cast. I waited for the rod to load... Only it didn't. I looked back in time to see the tip section of my rod zipping down the line and splashing into the water behind me. My heart went into my throat as my head spun left to see if my audience had noticed. They had. And they found the caper quite amusing. I'm not going to lie, this one hurt a little.

I've struggled with confidence my entire life. I let my self awareness and fear of looking dumb interfere with my activities. Up until a year ago, I hadn't been fly fishing since I was a kid. "What if people see me mess up?" "What if they also fly fish and notice my imperfect loops?" A year ago I came to a realization when talking with my father on the phone. He told me he considers himself a novice; a claim that a lot of people who, like him, who have been fly fishing for 40 plus years make. That was the "aha" moment for me. Fly fishing is inherently difficult. It doesn't matter how good you are, how much you practice, or how long you have been doing it. You're going to make mistakes. And other fly fisherman are going to laugh. But they truly aren't laughing at you (at least not all the time). They are laughing because you just reminded them of the time they did exactly what you just did. And often times, the time they are thinking of is a lot more recent than you think.